Wind Tunnel Testing Underway for Next, More Powerful Version of NASA SLS Rocket | NASA Marshall

Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center and Ames Research Center are running tests in supersonic wind tunnels to develop the next, more powerful version of the world's most advanced launch vehicle, the Space Launch System—capable of carrying humans to deep space destinations. The new wind tunnel tests are for the second generation of SLS. It will deliver a 105-metric-ton (115-ton) lift capacity and will be 364 feet tall in the crew configuration—taller than the Saturn V that launched astronauts on missions to the moon. The rocket's core stage will be the same, but the newer rocket will feature a powerful exploration upper stage. On SLS’s second flight with Orion, the rocket will carry up to four astronauts on a mission around the moon, in the deep-space proving ground for the technologies and capabilities needed on NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Credit: NASA's Langley Research Center/Ames Research Center
Duration: 54 seconds
Release Date: January 24, 2017

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